memeorandum: Hundreds deported under Biden, including witness to massacre (Nomaan Merchant/Associated Press)

5:55 AM ET, February 2, 2021

Top Items:

McConnell says Taylor Greene's embrace of conspiracy theories a ‘cancer’ to GOP, country — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

Discussion: The Right Scoop, The Guardian, The Sun, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, NBC News and Political Wire

Manu Raju / CNN:

First on CNN: Liz Cheney gets boost from McConnell amid divisive intraparty battle over Trump's impeachment — (CNN)Rep. Liz Cheney, under fire from former President Donald Trump and his staunchest defenders, is picking up support from some influential Republicans as her allies close ranks …

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story, Breitbart, USA Today, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Trumpism is American fascism — It is revealing how a political movement that claims to be dedicated to the recovery of national greatness has so readily and completely abandoned many defining national ideals. Donald Trump's promise of American strength has involved the betrayal of American identity.

Discussion: driftglass, The Moderate Voice and Raw Story

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
McConnell says ‘loony lies’ spread by Marjorie Taylor Greene are a ‘cancer’ on G.O.P.

Discussion: Business Insider, UPI, HuffPost, The RFAngle, CNN, TheBlaze and The Week

Politico:
Dems deliver GOP ultimatum over Marjorie Taylor Greene

Thomas Barrabi / Fox News:
Rep. Burgess Owens rips AOC for invoking ‘white supremacist’ label to make point about health care

Discussion: Politico and The Week

Tina Nguyen / Politico:
Marjorie Taylor Greene: I'm meeting with Trump ‘soon’

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Arizona Republic, Raw Story and HotAir

NBC News:
‘Cancer for the Republican Party’: McConnell condemns ‘loony lies’ in swipe at Marjorie Taylor Greene

Discussion: Sun-Sentinel, HuffPost, Axios, The Daily Caller and NPR

WTOP:
GOP's McConnell blasts ‘loony lies’ by Ga. Rep. Greene

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, Common Dreams, WRBL-TV and Roll Call

Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Schumer quietly nails down the left amid AOC primary chatter

Discussion: HotAir and Townhall

Washington Post:
As House GOP faces decision on its future, McConnell defends Cheney, rebukes Greene in rare set of statements

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill and Business Insider

CNN:
House Democrats move swiftly to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee assignments

Discussion: National Memo, The Daily Beast, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Montanan, Florida Phoenix, ABC News, Washington Post and The American Independent

Max Boot / Washington Post:
Rob Portman has done more damage to America than Marjorie Taylor Greene

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Power Line, HuffPost, abc7NY and Raw Story

Samantha Kubota / TODAY.com:

Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice — Besides being East Tennessee's songbird, country superstar Dolly Parton has always had a philanthropic side and it turns out even presidents have noticed! — The queen of country, 75, told TODAY in an interview …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Business Insider, The Sun and WRBL-TV

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump pollster's campaign autopsy paints damning picture of defeat — Former President Donald Trump has blamed the election results on unfounded claims of fraud and malfeasance. But at the top levels of his campaign, a detailed autopsy report that circulated among his political aides paints …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and FiveThirtyEight

Bisnow:

D.C. Claims Eminent Domain To Seize Infamous NoMa Wendy's Site — D.C. is using eminent domain to seize the Wendy's property in NoMa as part of a plan to transform the notorious “Dave Thomas Circle” intersection. — The District government filed an eminent domain case in D.C. Superior Court …

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

A Pennsylvania Mother's Path to Insurrection — How claims from Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones spurred a parent of eight to become one of the Capitol riot's biggest mysteries and a fugitive from the F.B.I. — Before the pandemic, Rachel Powell, a forty-year-old resident of a small town …

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Scoop: Fees — not just strategy — blew up Trump's legal team — Disagreements over legal strategy weren't the only reason Donald Trump's defense team collapsed just days before his second impeachment trial, Axios has learned. — What we're hearing: The notoriously stingy former president …

Discussion: Business Insider

Kevin Walling / The Hill:

Democrats will expand their Senate majority in 2022 — With the announcement last week that Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will forgo seeking a third term representing the Buckeye State, Democrats are increasingly bullish about expanding their slim majority in the midterm elections.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Tim Ryan, a Top Democrat in Ohio, Is Said to Plan Senate Bid

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, CNN, Roll Call and POLITICUSUSA

James Hamblin / The Atlantic:

The Brazil Variant Is Exposing the World's Vulnerability — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out.

Discussion: Washington Post

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

White House Reporters: Biden Team Wanted Our Questions in Advance — “It pissed off enough reporters for people to flag it” for the White House Correspondents' Association, one of The Daily Beast's sources said. … If you're a reporter with a tough question for the White House press secretary …

Discussion: Newsbusters, Breitbart, The National Pulse and Washington Examiner

New York Times:

Trump Official's Last-Day Deal With ICE Union Ties Biden's Hands — A whistle-blower accused Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II of an abuse of power in making sweeping concessions to pro-Trump Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. — WASHINGTON — A whistle-blower complaint filed on Monday …

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Magazine, BuzzFeed News and Al Jazeera

Wall Street Journal:

Officer Who Shot Capitol Rioter Ashli Babbitt Shouldn't Be Charged, Investigators Advise — Ms. Babbitt died after being shot by Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6 — WASHINGTON—Investigators have made a preliminary determination that the police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during …

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, The Sun and New York Post

New York Times:

Trump's Sleight of Hand: Shouting Fraud, Pocketing Donors' Cash for Future — With breathless, often misleading appeals, the former president promised small donors that he was using the money to fight the election results, but in fact stored much of it for future use.

Discussion: Raw Story

CREW:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's final financial disclosures … Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner disclosed receiving between $23,791,645 and $120,676,949 in combined outside income in their final financial disclosure reports. The disclosures cover the entirety of 2020 through January 20, 2021.

Discussion: Letters from an American

TMZ.com:

Dustin Diamond Dead at 44 After Battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer — REMEMBERING DUSTIN DIAMOND — Dustin Diamond — best known for playing the lovable Samuel “Screech” Powers on the hit NBC sitcom, “Saved by the Bell” — has died ... TMZ has learned. — A rep for Dustin tells us he died Monday morning.

Discussion: CNN, Newsmax, The Week, Crime Online, New York Post, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Breitbart, Vanity Fair, Mic, WRBL-TV and TheBlaze

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Anti-vaccine protest at Dodger Stadium was organized on Facebook, including promotion of banned ‘Plandemic’ video — The activity shows how the social media site remains a critical organizing tool of the anti-vaccine movement — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Democrats risk unintended Medicare cuts if they pass partisan Covid relief … WASHINGTON — Democrats considering a maneuver to forgo bipartisan support to pass Covid-19 relief are confronting an unintended consequence: doing so could automatically cut Medicare.

Discussion: HotAir, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Vox, Politico and Associated Press

Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Ga. bills would end no-excuse absentee voting, automatic registration — Republican state senators introduced a package of bills Monday to ban automatic voter registration, ballot drop boxes and no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia. — The proposals amount to an overhaul of Georgia's election laws …

NBC News:

Biden administration eyes Rahm Emanuel for ambassadorship — WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is considering former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a high-profile ambassadorship, potentially to China, three people with knowledge of the discussions said. — Becoming the U.S. ambassador …

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

Texas GOP fires staffer after he posted video from Capitol riot and spread false conspiracy theories at D.C. pizzeria — The field organizer was fired after The Texas Tribune asked about the posts on social media, which also included him praising the far-right Proud Boys. — Copy link

New York Times:

Biden to Free Up Billions in Delayed Puerto Rico Storm Aid — The administration plans to release $1.3 billion that was meant to help Puerto Rico rebuild after Hurricane Maria in 2017, and will remove restrictions on another $4.9 billion. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration …

Discussion: Political Wire

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Publix accountability — The riot at the Capitol on January 6 that left five people dead did not materialize out of thin air. Rather, Trump supporters were instructed to come to Washington DC that day to attend a rally at the Ellipse, near the White House.

Discussion: Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News

Charles Lane / Washington Post:

Confederate names are coming down, but San Francisco is now taking on ... Abe Lincoln? — Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, cities and towns are belatedly but necessarily purging public spaces of the names and images of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the soldiers who served his treasonous, pro-slavery cause.

Rich Lowry / New York Post:

Biden is the most radical left-wing president in US history, period — Joe Biden is off to the most left-wing start of any Democratic president in recent memory. — Just two weeks later, the dulcet tones of Biden's inaugural address already seem an artifact of a bygone era.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Judge throws out Trump rule limiting what science EPA can use — Biden officials had asked the Montana federal judge to send back the Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting studies behind public health safeguards. — A federal judge on Monday vacated the Trump administration rule limiting …

Wall Street Journal:

Covid Wears on, Essential Workers Carry on: 'Everybody Forgets That You're Still on the Front Line' — Grocery workers, delivery drivers and others have continued reporting to work during the year of Covid. Now, months in, many are feeling a mix of frustration, exhaustion and determination.

Bloomberg:

U.S. Hits Pandemic Milestone With More Vaccinated Than Cases — 26.5 million people have gotten vaccine in U.S., data show — About 1.34 million people a day being vaccinated on average — More Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine than have tested positive …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and New York Post

The Hill:

Cash talks: The need for incentives in vaccine delivery — Vaccines save lives, but not when they sit on shelves. If the Biden administration accelerates the health system's delivery of vaccines, it will save lives, reduce COVID-19's spread and hasten the pandemic's end.

Katie Jane Fernelius / The Appeal:

Let Civilians Run for Sheriff Again, New California Bill Proposes — The measure may pave the way for more sheriff candidates who want to challenge mass incarceration, but are currently banned from running. — California lawmakers are proposing to overturn a requirement that sheriff candidates have a law enforcement background.

Peter Rudegeair / Wall Street Journal:

Robinhood Raises Another $2.4 Billion From Shareholders — The $3.4 billion raised since last Thursday is more than it has raised in its entire prior existence — Robinhood Markets Inc. raised another $2.4 billion from shareholders, days after investors agreed to pump $1 billion …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, TalkLeft, The Daily Caller, New York Times, The Verge, Under the Hood, Breitbart and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Lachlan Markay / Axios:

Ex-colleague of Hunter Biden's lawyer gets top DOJ post — Hunter Biden hired a new attorney to assist with his federal criminal defense a month before his father became president. On Inauguration Day, one of that lawyer's close colleagues was tapped to temporarily lead the Justice Department's criminal division.

Discussion: RedState